Cityzens
The Etihad was one of England’s busiest stadium venues in 2016-17, with 19 league games, six cup games and eight concerts.
Fans from a total of 80 different countries attended a game at the Etihad Stadium, and average attendance at Premier League games was 54,000. Before each game, junior fans were given exclusive pre-match access at new Family Days at the City Football Academy.
Fans everywhere were brought closer to the club with the launch of a VR app, Snapchat Specs and a Facebook Messenger chat bot, as City was ranked fourth in Sports Techie’s most tech savvy sports team in the world.
Cityzens
Matchday
The Etihad Stadium, now City’s home for 15 seasons, enjoyed a second year of record attendances, and underwent a part refurbishment with the redevelopment of the West Stand and construction of the Tunnel Club.
The £299 seasoncard remains one of the cheapest, with the most expensive at £900 cheaper than five of the top six Premier League teams.
Cityzens
Digital
2016-17 was another season of significant digital innovation, with a new Facebook messenger bot, new CityVR app, two hackathons and a redesigned mobile-first website, plus the signing of eSports player Kez Brown. The Club was ranked fourth in Sports Techie’s most tech savvy sports team in the world.
City’s YouTube channel is the most subscribed-to channel in the Premier League, and third highest in world football. Fans were introduced to the new manager with ‘Pep’s Taxi’, which reached 50 million people and clocked up more than 21 million views on Facebook and YouTube.
Cityzens
Community
City in the Community (CITC) proudly celebrated its 30th year with fans, players and staff. The charity kicked off new programmes and celebrated longstanding initiatives, held the first ever ‘Blue Run’ fundraiser and launched a new apprenticeship programme with the Royal Foundation.
Now employing 87 full-and-part-time staff, CITC worked with 30,000 young people across Manchester on football-based programmes to bring positive health, education and inclusion outcomes.
Cityzens
Membership and Supporter Clubs
At the end of the 2016-17 season, the men’s first team surprised local fans in homes, workplaces and schools across the city to thank them for their support.
Supporters Clubs were presented with commemorative plaques by former players, awarded according to their age – the oldest being Brooks Bar, founded in 1949. In Indonesia, Brazil, Vietnam and China, Supporters Clubs held new matchday viewing parties for thousands of fans.
